26th-Z

Remember kats posted this picture of production summaries by year? If I read this correctly, it says 683 S30's were manufactured in 1969 - 41 PS30's, and 438 HS30's. If there is a higher serial number with a 1969 manufacture date on the ID tag, I want to see a picture!!!! Let's not confuse the issue with model years and production dates - please. I get so frustrated when someone asks why their car registration says one year and the date stamp says another. We all know that records do not exist to answer some of our particular questions. After all, we are talking about 30 year old used cars! If the 2098 serial number (HLS30-02098) has a production tag of 1969, I would love to see a picture of this unique piece of Datsun history.

I'm always interested in hearing about a 1969 car. Details! Details!

I have ash tray parts DJACEY. I have a body without a lid. PM me and we can talk.

Hi Burt! I went down to Cape Coral and looked at the 280z for Tom yesterday. Nice, sound car.

You guys are getting "Zanal". You saw the car, Smokey. It is what it is as best you can tell anything about a used car. Some people don't keep records like we would. My father has the receipt for gas he bought at Brown Deer Airport for his airplane in 1949. I just don't keep all that clutter. It's a fire hazard. Did I tell you about the Black Pearl I saw in Hemmings? 33,000 miles $16,900. I say step up to the plate and feast your pallette on Black Pearl of Z!

Hello B_A, Interesting set of options. I would say that any 30 year old lemon has already been squeezed and I don't agree with your British Columbia / minimal rust statement at all. The car with new floors and the other car with "all met red (redone?) are rust statement cars. All that work has been performed because of rust. They all seem pretty expensive, too. The 240 - 260 - 280 is known as the S30 chassis and all of them suffer from rust issues. Cars from the desert suffer the least. Rust is the major issue and one we discuss here frequently. I think anyone here will advise you to shy away from the rust issue cars. There isn't much difference between the '72 model year and '73. The '74 is a 260 - quite different drive train - and watch out for those carburetors. It sounds like a better deal, depending on how well the engine conversion was done on the '73. A 5 speed would be nice, but the '73 sounds like it has been run a little harder than the 260. If it were my money, I would spend $6500 on a rust free car before I would spend $6000 on a new floor board car. The $8000 car would have to be pretty darn nice. There's my two cents. Happy New Year!

Smokey, Try Tower Paint http://www.towerpaint.com/ I noticed in the latestest Hemmings Motor News an add for a Black Pearl. 33,000 miles $16,900

That's way cool, Smokey.

Would this make a great clubhouse for our club? Mike! Wow. We could park all our cars on the hanger deck, ride the elevator up to the flight deck and race around, shoot parts cars off the cat, and use all our old oil to power the thing. COOL!!!!

Hey Robert! This guy wants $32,000 for the ZG and Alan is saying he is seeing original cars go in the $40,000 range. I use this currency conversion site http://www.xe.com/ucc/ One of the reasons the price seems so high is because of the strength of the Yen at the moment. Now is not a good time to go overseas and buy with American dollars.

Oops! The only one missing!?!?//*#

You might find it here. http://www.utdallas.edu/~perdue/paintcodes.html

I don't think those are original seats, Gavin. Notice the oil filter is remote and the engine is fitted with a lot of St. Steel braided lines, suspension options, etc. From the way I hear Alan describe the cars in Japan, it is common - as it is in America - to find modifications and upgrades.

Hey Brian! Through your link, I just surfed S30 cars and S30 parts on the Japanese Yahoo. All the times I have tried before were in Japanese and I couldn't read them. It looks like you could find a nice car there if you were so inclined. Expensive, but not out of hand. I saw a 72 for $2,600 and RHD dash brand new. Thanks. It was fun surfing.

I had to laugh; "My old clapped out junk will beat your old clapped out junk...". Yea, yea, the TR6 guys should stick to their "ruggedly handsome body" and "beautiful engine". Everyone knows. I don't like the suggestion of milling the head, but all the others are good for getting extra horsepower. Head work can get real complicated. For instance, milling the head will put the cam out of proper height and you have to shim the cam towers up. Just balance the engine, perhaps a mild cam, and headers. Spend the bucks on bigger carburetors if you wish, but consider suspension tuning as part of the horsepower discussion. One of the reasons a Z is so fast is it's weight.

No real hijack - just a diversion. Zhome has a real good explanation of the limited production American models and they are mostly the 280 Z series of the S30. The Black Pearl and Zzap editions, for example. Our American 240Z came in one flavor and we consider different variants that were actually dealer add-ons after the car was imported. In other parts of the world and especially Japan, the S30 came in several different flavors. There was a basic Fairlady, a luxury Fairlady, a high performance Fairlady and a racing version of the high performance Fairlady. There were versions with different body work (Alan has a beautiful example) and different engines. And because so many military Americans were in Japan, there was a version for them to buy in Japan and take home with them. Some of those cars were actually limited productions and some were low production volume. Brian Long gives a great description of all the S30 versions in his book; "Datsun Z, Fairlady to 280". Check it out!

Alan, you make the old man laugh. Merry Christmas! I'm going to have to wait and see if Santa brings in the green crop. All I have at the moment is citrus and unless we have a freeze, my juice is worthless. Maybe by then the world will realize how cool George W is and our dollar will go up. I'll bet the weight is less than the limit for the size. It's all about size...

Nice wheels, Alan. Do I dare? Did you get my e-mail about my FedEx bill? $800 huh? Plus another four fifty, you think? Hmmm.... Tempting. Watanabe Libre Watanabe Libre

Smokey, That's a Black Pearl and you can get some info about them from Zhome for starters. I thought there was supposed to be a commemorative plaque on the console, but I could be wrong. The Black Pearl is a limited edition model of the 280Z and quite collectable. You could expect that car to increase in value as an original example - strictly original. From the looks of it, you would have very little to do to return it to original, but some things, making it a fun and easy project / collector car to own. It looks to be in very good shape. I would just have the rocker fixed and blend the paint. I don't have the slightest idea how hard it would be to find a stripe kit for it, but I wouldn't if I didn't have to. At 50,000 miles, that car has reached it's tolerance of miles for a collector car. Any more miles - substantial miles - would lessen the value of it. If you drove it on outings and to events only, maybe no more than 500 miles a year, it would be a fun car to have. But if you plan on driving it frequently, forget the collector car routine. You will wear it out and loose the value. I liked the reference to the Zzap add, thanks. That's another collector car at the same point in it's collector car career. Time to retire to the garage. This is a good time to start finding cars like this. They still have relatively low miles and exist in original condition or can be returned to original economically. The paint is original, the stripes are original, the interior is original, even the cad plating still gleams. They will be the ones most sought after in the future. I don't know what to tell you on the price. You need to do some homework and find out what they have been selling for. Incidently, that ebay $33,000 Factory Restoration car with 50,000 miles was reduced to $25,000 and sold without meeting the reserve. That will give you an idea of what is happening in the collector car world. If that car does trade, it will be above $25,000. If I had $10k for a garage toy, I would call him up and make arrangements to see the car.

Check this out: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6753&item=2449180549 Isn't there a copywrite on this picture? Or what am I missing?

Koito's here! Chloe sold me spare lamps a while back. Check with her. I think you will find used Koito's around.

This stamping is quite common. It is an inspection stamp and is called "ken" as Alan wrote.

Yes. Wu Tang chic. Ricer, but slippery.

Interesting, Alan. I don't have a matching pair. My clutch pedal has no stamp at all. Now instead of numbers on my brake pedal, I have letters. I didn't stand on my head - the pedal cluster is out of the car. I think you have found a different pedal for RHD cars? My brake pedal arm is straight bar stock and my clutch pedal arm is thinner stock and bent to a cup shape. Play on! I don't have a match. yet.